Deficit may close Goshen City Court

Officials hope for subsidy agreement by end of year.

Officials hope for subsidy agreement by end of year.

November 14, 2006|YONIKA WILLIS Tribune Staff Writer

GOSHEN -- City officials are considering closing Goshen City Court in 2008 because of an increasing deficit. The city currently is working with the county to subsidize the costs. A decision must be made on the matter by the end of this year. "I think we'd prefer to keep it open out of convenience," Goshen resident Pat Plank said of city court. "Once you have it, you don't want to be without it." But if the court -- which handles criminal misdemeanors and traffic and city ordinance violations -- does close, clearing up a traffic ticket in Goshen may not have the convenience it used to. Offenders would have to travel to one of the county's other three courts that handle misdemeanors, two of which are located in Elkhart. "Elkhart is not that far," said Goshen resident Bernie Harlan, "and I don't get infractions anyways. So it wouldn't affect me." The city expects it to cost $431,000 to run the court this year, but the court is projected to bring in only about $400,000. The deficit is projected to increase to roughly $50,000 next year. "For convenience to police and public, it would be nice to leave it open," Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman said. But the city isn't required to have its own court. A state mandate requires counties to have courts, but city courts are optional, Kauffman said. Of the seven cities and towns within the county, Goshen is one of three (Nappanee and Elkhart) that has its own court. And Goshen City Court -- an adult misdemeanor court, which shares space with the Police Department at 111 E. Jefferson St. -- has been a staple in the community for more than 50 years. In 2005, the court handled 2,595 infractions, 4,166 ordinance violations and 1,704 misdemeanors. The court's staff is comprised of seven full-time employees, all of whom have worked there at least 10 years. The court also has a probation officer who oversees 800 people on active probation in the city, and it relies on part-time help. So what would closing the court mean for its staff?Kauffman said there are a couple of possibilities for the staff, including attrition and absorption into other departments. "They'd all be taken care of," he said. "We don't want anyone to be unemployed because of this." Without the court, cases not handled at a city level would be split among county courts. If the number of misdemeanors for 2005 is spread equally among each of the county's three courts handling such cases, each court will take on an additional 47 cases a month. Judges don't seem to be thrilled with the idea of taking on more cases, Elkhart County Administrator Tom Byers said in a meeting with county commissioners and Kauffman last week. During that meeting, commissioners agreed to draft an interlocal agreement to subsidize Goshen City Court. Commissioners also will look into subsidizing Nappanee and Elkhart's city courts as well. They also want to discuss the issue more with county judges. Kauffman hopes to present a plan to commissioners and the County Council before their December meetings. But, regardless of whether an agreement to subsidize the cost is reached, the court will remain open through next year.